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| Sunday,
April 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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CM gets cold feet on
reshuffle Water pollution: CAG indicts state
board Committee to remove bottlenecks Promote tourism in
Himalayan states: CM Punjabi to be taught in 140 schools Private bus operators
observe strike |
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Gastroenteritis cases on rise in Jeterh Downsize ministry by half: MLA ADSJ’s appointment
challenged Transfers hit courts’ working Diploma engineers’ plea to fill
posts Training session on bee-keeping
begins BJP saffronising
HPU: Cong MLA Labourers detained: notices to SP, others NSUI plea to
Governor ABVP holds rally at HP
varsity
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CM gets cold feet on
reshuffle Shimla, April 21 Sources close to the Chief Minister said he might altogether put off the expansion because there was a beeline of aspirants for a ministerial berth and the exercise might boomerang as there was already a simmering discontent among a section of the ruling BJP. Mr Dhumal had earlier said that he might expand the ministry after the budget session and would reallocate portfolios on the basis of performances of ministers. Pressure has been mounting on Mr Dhumal by various groups for induction of their nominees in the ministry ever since he made the statement. Those close to Mr Dhumal pointed out that even some first timers in the assembly were running after him for a ministerial berth. Mr Dhumal has already come under criticism for constituting a bigger ministry than that of the Congress and also appointing a number of chairmen and vice-chairmen of various boards and corporations on political considerations. The BJP had earlier been criticising the previous Congress government for a jumbo-sized-ministry. There were reports of Mr Dhumal planning to further expand his ministry immediately after a patch-up between him and the rebel Shanta Kumar loyalists who had publicaly criticised the state government for having failed to control corruption, nepotism and favouritism. However, the plan was shelved and only the four rebel ministers, who were sacked by Mr Dhunmal after the revolt, were reinducted in the ministry. They were reallocated their portfolios after a couple of days. Mr Dhumal chose to deprive a rebel, Mr Rajan Sushant, of the portfolio of Science and Technology which he was holding earlier prior to his dismissal. This was keeping the aspirants’ hopes alive that the Chief Minister might go in for expansion of his ministry. There have been reports that a rebel MLA, Mr Des Raj, may get a ministerial berth. He was earlier chairman of a government board and had resigned from the post sometime around the first revolt by Shanta loyalists in November. Sometime ago, Mr Dhumal had secured the resignations of all his ministers and chairmen of boards and corporations which sparked the speculations of a reshuffle of the ministry. However, nothing happened thereafter except dropping Mr Mohinder Singh from the ministry. |
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Water pollution: CAG indicts state
board Shimla, April 21 As many as 24.81 lakh cases of water-borne diseases, and 444 deaths were reported in the state between 1994-99. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) has indicted the state pollution control board for all this mess in his recent report, and has said the board did not carry any scientific studies to assess the overall level of different types of pollution. The CAG has said the board has failed to discharge its statutory functions to minimise the incidence of water-borne diseases. Studies in certain selected river basins, however, showed that 80 per cent pollution of water sources was caused due to municipal sewage and the industrial units contributed the remaining 20 per cent. The ambient air quality at four stations showed the level of suspended particulate matter (spm) more than the prescribed standards. No effective steps to keep the air quality within the prescribed standards had been taken and the level of soil pollution was also not assessed. The CAG observed that the legislative mandate for the prevention, control or abatement of pollution had not been achieved and the overall quality of water remained poor even after 25 years of enactment of the legislation. The activities of the board were
generally confined to selective industries and traditional organic waste went on accumulating in the absence of any follow up and compliance mechanism with effective coordination. About 63 tonnes of garbage per day was being produced in Mandi, Manali and Kulu and it was being dumped on the banks of the rivers. About 164 tonnes of garbage was being generated daily in the towns of Chamba, Dharamshala, Shimla, Nalagarh and Solan. The board has neither identified the institutions generating the bio-medical waste and was not aware of details of private nursing homes, veterinary institutions, animal houses or places where these units were dumping their hazardous waste. The board had neither identified the total number of polluting industries nor was aware about the number of units functioning without obtaining consent for discharging sewage or effluent. Ten polluting units and seven transport work shops were functioning without the required effluent treatment plants. The statutory provision of annual environment audit reports by industrial units and local bodies was not being enforced by the board, thereby defeating the objectives of environmental audit. |
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Committee to remove bottlenecks Shimla, April 21 A high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary has been set up to recommend allocation of these projects to independent power producers. A state-level monitoring committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary for monitoring and coordinating the activities of different departments for expediting work on the projects. A spokesman of the government said the government had accorded top priority to the development of hydel potential in the state with special emphasis being given to small hydro sector (upto 5 MW). In view of the resource constraints the state government has chalked out an ambitious plan to harness the tremendous micro-hydel potential in the state by inviting private sector investments in this sector. The government has also taken several policy initiatives to make the investment in this sector more lucrative and also remove bottlenecks, which are hampering the speedy implementation of the projects. He said emphasis was being laid on small hydro power projects because hydel power is recognised as a reliable, eco-friendly and renewable source of pf energy, which is most suitable for the sensitive mountain ecology as that of the Himalayan region. The exploitation for such small hydro power projects does not involve setting up of large dams and therefore does not suffer from the ills of deforestation, submergence or rehabilitation and other environmental ills. In addition to the income to the state government on account of royalty at the rate of 10 per cent after the first 15 years of commissioning these projects will generate employment opportunities for the local people. The positive spin offs of such projects include opening up of the hinterland, economic growth of far-flung areas, rise of business opportunities for the local populace, etc. With the commissioning of these projects the voltage profiles of the remote areas in also likely to improve, thereby providing a solution to an extent to the problem of low voltage in certain areas of the state. Harnessing micro-hydel power is an ideal business for the sustainable development of the state. The development of micro-hydel projects is being done by adopting the MoU route. After inviting the offers, by advertising through newspapers, the high-powered committee analyses the financial and technical capabilities of the applicant companies, based on the evaluation criteria adopted since 1995, and makes appropriate recommendations to the state government for the allocation of projects. The whole process of allocation of projects had been streamlined and it has been assured that the final decision is taken within the shortest possible time, thereby giving a positive signal to the investors of the keenness of the government. The Himachal Government first invited the private sector to set up small hydro projects in 1995. In the first phase, memoranda of understanding (MoU) for 64 small hydro projects with an aggregate capacity of 71.4 MW were
signed in 1996-97. The DPRs of 56 projects have been prepared by the private investors and techno-economic clearance for 30 projects has since been accorded. This sector received fresh impetus after the present government came into power. It has unequivocally advocated development of hydel potential and tourism as the twin engines of economic growth for the state. The government in the second phase signed MoUs for 24 projects, aggregating a capacity of 50.24 MW, during the year 1999-2000. Five DPRs have already been submitted for techno-economic
clearance. Recently, in the third phase of privatisation, the government has signed MoUs for 67 projects with an aggregate capacity of 102 MW. Apart from signing the MoUs the government took stock of the impediments to speedy development of the small hydel sector. The implementation agreement and power purchase agreements were finalised in early 2000. Consequently, implementation agreements and power purchase agreements for 23 projects with a total capacity of 47.75 MW were signed during 2000 and work on some of these projects is likely to commence shortly. One micro-hydel project of 100 KW has been commissioned at Chamba during January 2001 and six other micro-hydel projects are likely to be commissioned this year in different parts of the state. Some of the incentives being given to this sector were revised to improve the viability of the projects viz increase in purchase rate from Rs 2.25 to Rs 2.50 per unit, royalty waived for the first 15 years, deemed generation allowed etc. Amendment in the Electricity (Supply Act, 1948, has been enacted to enable cooperative societies and societies within the state to take up such projects. It has also been decided that Himurja will now prepare the DPRs and obtain all clearances before inviting the private sector to invest. A number of such projects are proposed to be reserved exclusively for cooperative societies of the state. The state government has also assessed the power evacuation needs for all small hydro projects in the state and drawn up a comprehensive action plan for providing stable grid connectivity. |
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Promote tourism in
Himalayan states: CM Shimla, April 21 Mr Dhumal was addressing the 10th meeting of the Himalayan Tourism Advisory Board (HIMTAB) here today. He said the Central Ministry of Environment should evolve a suitable policy which should balance the growth of tourism and preservation of environment. Strategies have to be evolved for sustainable tourism development in the Himalayan region and to preserve and enhance the pristine purity, natural grandeur and priceless flora and fauna of the Himalayas. Tourism development should be eco-friendly and within the parameters permissible in the fragile Himalayan ecology. A national consciousness for conservation and embellishment of the Himalayas had to be generated with the active participation of the local people. The Chief Minister said our mutual concern was not merely the rapid commercial exploitation of tourism, but also to develop it in a professional and a sustained manner in harmony with a genuine concern for ecology and environment. Our strength lay in keeping the Himalayan region clean, green and pure so that it remained a perennial source of peace, joy and enhancement. Tourism had been identified as a critical thrust area which could revolutionise the quality of life of our people, provide jobs and raise their standard of living, besides serving as a unifying force in the country. Mr Dhumal said the aviation, rail and road infrastructure in the Himalayan areas had to be substantially upgraded and strengthened “in case we’re serious about promoting quality tourism in the Himalayan region. It is, therefore, important to uniformly reduce or subsidise the air fare structure to the entire Himalayan region on the pattern of Ladakh and North-East. This alone will encourage air travel and make it commercially viable in the long run.” He said the fleet of Indian Airlines and major private operators had to have an adequate number of smaller aircraft to serve these areas as bigger airports could not be constructed in the hills. Easy access by air would help in opening up the hitherto unexplored, but potentially very attractive areas in the Himalayan region which for want of good communication and transport facilities had been left untouched. The rail network was poor, but the narrow gauge lines existing in these areas had great tourism potential provided the railways made a concerted and sustained effort. Trains from major metros should connect the terminal broad gauge stations which provide access to hill state. There were no direct trains from southern cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai to northern hill states. The Chief Minister said the member states of HIMTAB had locational disadvantages and the infrastructure needed to compete with the market could not be created due to paucity of funds. |
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Punjabi to be taught in 140 schools Shimla, April 21 This was decided at a high-level meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. The meeting was also attended by Education Minister I.D. Dhiman, Minister of State for Primary Education, Karan Singh and Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Education) D.P. Roy. To begin with, this would be introduced in Sirmour, Solan, Kangra and Bilaspur districts. It was also decided to impart training to inservice teachers by organising condensed courses at the North-Zone Regional Language Centre at Patiala so that the subject could be introduced as subject under the three-language formula in classes IX and X.
PTI |
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Private bus operators
observe strike Nahan, April 21 It may be recalled that the Excise and Taxation Department of the Sirmour had yesterday impounded 11 private buses on the charge of non-payment of tax arrears. According to official sources, three buses were released by the department after realising the arrears while the rest were still in possession of the Taxation Authorities. Sources said a deputation of bus operators left early today for Shimla to meet senior government officials in this regard. The outcome of the meeting is awaited. Officers of the Excise and Taxation Department said that this time they had impounded only those buses whose operators were the biggest tax defaulters. The auction was taken after the receipt of written orders from the head of the department at Shimla, they said. |
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Gastroenteritis cases on rise in Jeterh Kangra, April 21 Many villagers who consumed contaminated water of the only natural water source in the village have got infected. The Block Medical Officer (BMO), Dr V.K. Mahajan, has rushed to the village along with a team of doctors and health supervisors, according to Health Department sources. The only water source available has become contaminated due to rain in the area and the medical authorities are chlorinating its water. Dr Mahajan said 58 patients were treated in the village yesterday. He said chlorine tablets and ORS had been distributed among the villagers by the team of doctors. |
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Downsize ministry by half: MLA Kangra, April 21 Mr Bali was addressing a press conference here today. He said by scrapping some posts of bureaucrats earlier, the government was able to save Rs 1 lakh only whereas by downsizing the ministry by half would save the government crores of rupees. He criticised Mr Dhumal’s reported move to expand his ministry in the near future while commenting on the government’s decision to scrap three posts of DIGs of Dharamsala, Mandi and Shimla.
He said the Chief Minister was succumbing to pressure to remain in power. |
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ADSJ’s appointment
challenged Shimla, April 21 The petitioner has alleged in his petition that the HP High Court has illegally appointed Mr Amar Chand Dogra to the post of Additional District and Sessions Judge as he was overage as per the rules and regulations for the selection of the
above said post last year. On this petition a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Mr Chief Justice C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice K.c. Sood yesterday issued notices to the High Court, the chairman of selection board for the above said post and Mr Amar Chand Dogra. It is pertinent to mention here that Mr Dogra is presently posted as Additional District and Sessions Judge here. It is further alleged in the petition that the High Court has not issued any interview letter to the petitioner and he was not informed about his non-consideration, which amounts to dential of appointment and violative of the principle of natural justice. It is recalled here that the notification for the post of additional district and sessions judge had been advertised by the HP High Court on June 29, 1999, and the said notification was also against the anticipated vacancies in the same category, if any becoming available during the next one year from the date of appointment. It is further alleged that the petitioner had applied for the post again for which the notification was issued by the High Court on June 14, 2000, and he alleged that he had the apprehension that he would never be selected and appointed due to malafide and biased attitude of the officials. The petitioner pleaded before the court to quash the appointment made by the high court. |
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Transfers hit courts’ working Sundernagar, April 21 The Himachal High Court recently transferred 46 judicial officers, 11 sessions and additional sessions judges and 35 subordinate judges. Following the orders the sessions judges joined duties at various places on April 9 while as per the orders of the high court they were ordered to relinquish their charges on April 16 and join their new place of posting after availing the joining time. As the subordinate judges are availing their joining time the working of these courts has come to grinding halt. At most of the places the judicial officers would resume their duties by the end of the month after availing the joining time. In spite of all this the undertrials are made to visit the court where there is no judicial officers. |
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Diploma engineers’ plea to fill
posts Shimla, April 21 Mr D.C. Bhardwaj, president of the Junior Engineers Association, told mediapersons here today that promotions were being denied to them. There were instances of junior engineers not getting promotions even after about 32 years of service. He said the government had authorised all departments either to execute the work themselves or to get it done by some civil construction agencies. The PWD could not be expected to bid for works along with private parties or public sector undertakings as a government department could be run on commercial lines. |
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Training session on bee-keeping
begins Kulu, April 21 The Associate Director of the Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry said the programme had been sponsored by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, under the project on indigenous honeybees in the Himalayas. While addressing the gathering on the inaugural function, the Associate Director said this project was simultaneously running in five Asian countries, Bhutan, China, India, Pakistan and Nepal. The main objective of the project was to promote the sustainable management of Indian honeybee and other indigenous honeybees in the Himalayan region, he said. The Regional Horticulture Research Station, Bajaura in the district, has been identified as one of the centres in India for the implementation of the project. |
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BJP saffronising HPU: Cong
MLA Shimla, April 21 He said the policies of the government were detrimental to the growth of educational institutions. Mr Kaul Singh alleged that HPU appointments had been made on the basis of extraneous political considerations and persons following the BJP ideology had been appointed. He also alleged that the state government and the university authorities had ignoring UGC rules. The blood donation camp was organised by the campus unit of the NSUI in memory of Pawan Thakur. As many as 51 students donated blood. The camp was attended by teachers, students and the non-teaching staff of the university. |
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Labourers detained: notices to SP, others Shimla, April 21 He alleged that the brick-kiln owner had kept him and 18 other families under detention and did not allow them to move anywhere. The owner’s henchmen kept a watch on their activities, he alleged, adding that they would visit their jhuggis and even try to molest women. He said in his petition that the respondents and their men had violated the mandatory provision of the Bonded Labourer System Abolition Act of 1976 and were liable to be prosecuted under Sections 3, 6, 9 and 17 of the Act. He appealed to the court to direct the respondents to produce the families in court along with their belongings. He
requested the appointment of a warrant officer to look for the families at the brick-kiln. The notices were issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice
C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice L.S. Panta. The statements will be placed on record along with the report of the officer on or before May 1.
Shimla, April 21 Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, president, alleged students on the campus were facing various problems but the university authorities were turning a blind eye. He alleged the appointments were not made as per the SC/ST roster system and a judicial inquiry should be made into the appointments. He alleged a sum of Rs 3 crore was provided for the construction of SC/ST hostels. He has demanded a judicial inquiry into use of funds. The main demands included a judicial inquiry into the appointments made, appointment of hostel warden as per rotation system, evaluation of SC/ST coaching centre, no fee hike, construction of an information centre near the university gate and a judicial inquiry into the use of funds provided for the SC/ST hostel. |
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ABVP holds rally at HP
varsity Shimla, April 21 Addressing the rally, ABVP leader Om Prakash alleged that no allotment had so far been done for the girls hostels. He alleged that the poor students had been facing difficulties due to high fees. He alleged that a boys hostel was inaugurated by Mr M.M. Joshi during his visit here, but no construction work had yet been started. The protesters also submitted their demand charter to the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Mr N.K. Sharda. The main demands were to withdraw fee hike, open B.Ed class for the Arts students in the campus, establish a placement cell in the Management Department and provide a regular telephone facility in the hostels. |
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